


Just Enough

by kg1507



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-12
Updated: 2012-12-12
Packaged: 2017-11-20 22:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kg1507/pseuds/kg1507
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’d never meant for this to happen. He’d only wanted to cheer her up - make her smile again. Pure and sweet, without the heavy burdens of their task lying heavily on her mind, as he knew it was. She always did that - worried too much. And it always seemed to involve him. He’d just wanted to give her a memory that didn’t involve pain when she looked at him. Now it seemed he couldn't even get that right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Enough

He’d never meant for this to happen.  
  
He’d only wanted to cheer her up - make her smile again. He hadn’t meant to upset her or whatever it was that he’d done. He’d just wanted her to feel happiness again. Pure and sweet, without the heavy burdens of their task laying heavily on her mind, as he knew it was. She always did that - worried too much. And it always seemed to involve him. He’d just wanted to give her a memory that didn’t involve pain when she looked at him. Now it seemed he couldn’t even get that right.  
  
It all seemed so stupid now. He hated dancing, and knew she didn’t exactly care for it either. Maybe that’s why he had thought it would make her smile, the two of them attempting to do something they both were no good at. It had worked for a little while, or so he thought. He’d taken her hands and spun her around the dimly-lit tent, making an effort to be extra-uncoordinated in the hopes of getting one of those true Hermione smiles to shine through. He’d missed those more than he realized.  
  
But then she had leaned into him, resting her chin on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck and back. Harry could still feel the warmth of each finger pressing into his jacket, the soft breath of her content sigh in his ear and the shiver that raced down his neck from it.  
  
He remembered how easily his head had fit in the crook of her neck for that brief moment, how soft the skin of her cheek felt on his stubbled face after the quickest brush. He remembered it all - every second. And he knew that everything had changed.  
  
He would never forget how hard his heart had pounded during those moments. From the moment she had rested her head on his shoulder, it was like he had seen an entirely different picture - one that could have been played so differently, if only he’d opened his eyes just a little wider. They had pulled away suddenly, and Harry swore something had changed in her too. She’d looked at him differently - no, she’d been looking at him that way for years. He’d never noticed. Never bothered. Never realized just how important she was in his life until that moment. The girl who never left his side, even in the darkest of times. In a flash of memories, Harry realized no matter what had happened in his life, Hermione had been there through it all. Helping him rescue Sirius in their third year, getting him through the Triwizard Tournament the best she could, helping him break into the Ministry even though she knew it had been a trap, and now here she was, risking her own life just to be with him, to help him in his search for the horcruxes and end this never-ending war. It was an impossible task, one he knew Hermione realized early on. But she hadn’t given up on him. She was   
the only one who never had.  
  
They had pulled away, and as their bodies disconnected, so did the bond that had held them together all those years. Harry had felt it snap like the wand he no longer possessed. He felt strangely cold without her, even though she was close enough to touch. She’d looked away from him, ended their temporary escape from the world, and had not spoken to him since. It had been almost two days.  
  
They communicated without words - they knew each other well enough not to need them. Even so, the silence was disturbing and it was cutting Harry deeper than he’d expected. Last night while on watch, he had heard her crying softly in her bed. It had evoked something so strong in his heart, it had almost made him go to her right then. But he’d resisted, terrified of making things worse. It was what he did, after all.

It was now early morning. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting orange rays over the horizon in the distance. Harry blew warm breath into his frozen hands, rubbing them together to create some circulation. He glanced at the tent before inhaling deeply. They never liked to stay in one spot longer than a day or two, departing early in the morning with new enchantments cast in a new campsite within the hour. Hermione would be getting up soon, and they would be off again.  
  
Almost as if she had heard his thoughts, Hermione pushed the flap of the tent open and emerged, looking unrested. She had dark bags under eyes red from crying, and Harry stood up before he knew what he was doing. He just couldn’t take the silence anymore.  
  
“Hermione, I need to talk to you.” Harry said as he walked towards her.  
  
Hermione held up her hand tiredly. “Can it wait, please?”  
  
Harry ignored her request. “I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t… I didn’t mean to upset you or anything like that.” He was stumbling over his words. He should’ve prepared better.  
  
“I know this has been hard on you. And I know I don’t always tell you this, but… I could never have come this far without you. And I just wanted you to know that.” He took a step forward and saw her eyes filling with tears again.  
  
“I just wanted, for a moment, for everything to feel… right.” He said.  
  
Hermione paused for what felt like an eternity and quickly wiped her cheeks free of streaks. A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips, but then it was gone. Her eyes met Harry’s, and he felt that pull again. It was stronger than gravity, and yet it kept him tethered to the ground. It was too much, and not enough at the same time.  
  
“Harry,” Hermione whispered gently, taking a small step backwards. “It  _was_  right.”  
  
A moment of silence passed between them, one of understanding of the purest clarity before Hermione broke the tension.  
  
“We should get going.” She picked her wand up where it lay and went to put out the last few embers of their fire, but not before the fingers of her free hand softly grazed Harry’s in an accidental touch as she passed his side. She felt the intense warmth from the other night rekindling in her stomach, her heartbeat increasing almost immediately. It was no more than the briefest of touches, the grazing of fingertips… but it was enough.


End file.
